How to Be a Pirate characters

Appears from the start

The undersized heir of the Hairy Hooligan tribe on Berk, now an initiated member of it after the events of the first book. He is still small, still thoughtful, and still the worst fighter of his year, particularly with a sword. His one real advantage, the ability to speak Dragonese, is something he continues to keep largely to himself.

Appears from the start

Hiccup's dragon, a very small, toothless Common or Garden dragon who is greedy, vain, disobedient and inclined to lie about it. He goes where Hiccup goes, mostly under his shirt, and complains about it.

Appears from the start

Hiccup's closest friend: skinny, nervous, allergic to reptiles and no better with a sword than Hiccup is. He expects things to go wrong and generally says so.

Also known as Snotlout

Appears from the start

Hiccup's cousin and rival for the chieftainship, strong, loud and openly scornful of him, and quick to take any opportunity to make him look ridiculous.

Appears from the start

Snotlout's enormous and slow-witted companion, who provides the muscle for his bullying.

Appears from the start

Chief of the Hairy Hooligans and Hiccup's father, a huge and noisy man with a strong Viking appetite for treasure hunting.

Appears from the start

The tribe's vast, bellowing instructor, who is teaching Hiccup's year to fight with swords and regards Hiccup's efforts as a personal insult.

First appears in chapter 2

A half-drowned stranger the Hooligans find alive inside the coffin that washes ashore at Berk. He introduces himself as a farmer down on his luck, is grateful, agreeable and full of admiration for his rescuers, and takes an unusually close interest in the treasure map that comes ashore with him.

First appears in chapter 3

The most feared Viking pirate who ever lived, dead long before the story begins and an ancestor of Hiccup's. His coffin, the riddle he left behind and the treasure he is supposed to have hidden are what set the whole voyage in motion.

First appears in chapter 6

Chief of the Meathead tribe, a neighbour and sometime ally of Stoick's, and equally unable to resist the promise of a treasure hunt.

First appears in chapter 6

Mogadon's son and heir, a capable boy of about Hiccup's age and one of the very few outside Berk who treats Hiccup as worth speaking to rather than as a joke.